The Sensex belled the day on a dull note tracking disappointing worldwide signals and continued to trade lower.

Selling pressure was seen across metal, realty and capital goods stocks.

The Sensex was trading at 14,698.83, down 176.69 points. The Nifty fell 1.18 per cent to 4,431.20.

Anu Jain, VP, IIFL Wealth Mgmt, India Infoline stated, “The markets are expected to correct sharply. The support for the Nifty is seen at 4,360.”

The BSE Midcap was down 1.25 per cent and Smallcap index fell 1.33 per cent.

Mr. Tarun Sisodia, Head of Research, Anand Rathi Sec said, “The key driver for markets has been fund flows. However, PE multiples are looking stretched at this stage.”

Mr. Sisodia added that the stock markets are likely to consolidate by the next 2-3 months.

Major gainers in the 30-share index included ONGC (0.97%), Tata Power Company (0.86%), NTPC (0.77%), SBI (0.67%), Ranbaxy Laboratories (0.63%) and Hindustan Unilever (0.31%).

On the other hand, the major losers were Sterlite Industries (India) (6.10%), Tata Steel (3.58%), Bharti Airtel (3.12%), Hindalco Industries (2.76%), and DLF (2.54%).

US stocks fell down on Monday as lower oil costs, geopolitical unrest and a couple of weak economic reports increased fears that the slowdown may not be moderating as soon as some had hoped.

The Dow Jones Industrial Average was down by 187 points. After closing last week positively, the Dow is now again in the red zone for 2009. The S&P 500 index declined 22 points and the Nasdaq Composite index declined 42 points.

Wall Street has gained over the last 3-months on bet that the speed of the global slump is lessening, with the S&P 500 up 40% during that period. But a lack of incremental evidence to back up the rally has left stocks rangebound over the last few weeks.

While commenting on the market outlook, Avinash Gupta, assistant vice president- research equity, Bonanza Portfolio stated that the stock market is expected to consolidate.

Nifty is moving in the range of 4,700 and 4,350, he added.

While commenting on the market performance of Monday, Mr. Gupta said, “The market recorded gains for the 14th week. Positive IIP numbers failed to excite the market. The market is developing a kind of sluggishness and the advance decline ratio was negative.”

“The market during the day ceded ground,” he added.